If true, September 9th would be the earliest Apple has held its fall iPhone event in years. Last month, 9to5Macreported that Apple had tentatively scheduled this event for the middle of September, with the 9th coming in just ahead of that mid-mark.

An earlier date is important for a number of reasons. The most important may be that it means Apple will be able to ship new iPhones all the earlier.

In the past few years, the company has gone from October events with October shipping dates, to end-of-September events with squeak-it-in-to-the-end-the-quarter shipping dates, to announce in September and get a solid week of shipping in the quarter. A September 9th media event could mean a full two weeks of shipping new devices at the end of the quarter.

Keep in mind that each launch has also seen better availability, making pushing the date back a little every year a herculean accomplishment. Apple's supply chain needs are enormous because Apple's product line is so focused.

Another factor is that an earlier date leaves more room for Apple to hold other media events in the fall. Think iWatch. Macs are a possibility, too, and Apple has had a fall Mac event in prior years. It's the iWatch, however, that Apple will want to make sure has plenty of space from the iPhone launch in order to generate the biggest impact.

This story hasn't been echoed yet—I'm particularly waiting for Loop Insight's Jim Dalrymple to Yep/Nope it. I am hoping it's accurate, though, because it really does show just how strong Apple's fall lineup is, just as SVP Eddy Cue and CEO Tim Cook have promised.